To ‘B’ or not to ‘B’: Maternity wear gets wired up

After making inroads to your bedroom, technology is all set to wire up pregnancy too. A fashion design student, Blake Uretsky has come up with a new concept of maternity wear, which mothers to be can wear to track the vital signs during that delicate phase. Blake visualized and redefined maternity wear in order to win Geoffrey Beene national scholarship design award worth $30,000. This year’s case study was in wearable technology. It is to be noted that Uretsky is the second participant to win the scholarship in a row from Cornell. Last year, it was Justin Lee who devised convertible accessories and clothing. For her research, Uretsky sported a fake baby bump herself and surveyed on more than 30 pregnant ladies.

The maternity wear comes up in different styles imaginable. The clothing line has 10 items and includes trousers, skirts, blouses and evening gowns. The clothes adjust and stretch across the bump and features neutral colors. The maternity wearable will not only provide the comfort but will also track blood pressure, respiration, body temperature and heart rate, all vitals that can be very crucial during pregnancy. The stats are directly sent to smartphone via an app.

As a fashion student, Uretsky observed the lack of style and fashion in maternity clothing and started to think about blending maternity wear and technology. She is also of opinion that wearable tech also need to look more beautiful and find functionality. Uretsky has also observed that smart wearable clothing has focused on fitness enthusiasts and sidelined the maternity wear. She feels that her case study will make a solid case for the further research as monitoring pregnancy is crucial to ensure the well-being of both baby and mother.

Uretsky has dubbed her maternity wear line as B maternity wearables. The maternity smart clothing is sewn with conductive fiber technology and can be worn through the three trimesters to record the stats. The stats recorded are of the mother and her baby. The silver wires are made by Pennsylvania based Notable Biometrics and are stitched through the waistline. Along with these threaded wires, a small device is also stitched into that conveys the data to the smartphone app. The doctors can help the mothers to be the set the device for alerts.

The designs prepared by Blake are smart fit and take body’s shape. Hence, women can wear ‘B’ before and after the pregnancy too.

Release and Price of Smart Maternity Wearable

Since it was a case study project, it is not yet confirmed if the maternity wearable is going to be commercially released or not. But as Uretsky has confirmed that she will use the scholarship money to start her own fashion line, we can see this amazing idea coming out of the nascent stage. Or may not.

Though, according to Julia Walsh, maternal health expert at the University of California, says that not all women need to track their vital signs during pregnancy and such wearable clothing like ‘B’ can be of great use for ladies who are at high risk of miscarriages. Though, the thought of wearing wires around your yet to be born baby freaks me out.

An MBA, a brand strategist and writer, Vinisha is hooked to technology. Trying to keep pace with ever-changing tech world, she keeps on writing to understand and analyze it from a user’s perspective. A hardcore movie buff and ‘Nirvana’ fan, she can be reached @vinisha_nirmal

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